The latest round of trade talks in London brought China’s and the United States’ top negotiators together on June 9 and 10 for their first economic and trade consultation mechanism meeting. Under the strategic guidance of both heads of state, negotiators built on the important consensus from their June 5 phone call and the framework agreed in Geneva.
Mutual Benefit Takes Center Stage
Chinese vice premier He Lifeng, joined by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, framed the discussions around mutual benefit. He underscored that cooperation benefits both sides and warned that sustained confrontation would harm both economies.
Tariff Adjustments Drive Trade Recovery
Earlier agreements in Geneva led to the U.S. lifting 91 percent of additional tariffs on the Chinese mainland and China reciprocating in kind. Since then, data from Vizion shows container bookings to the United States surged by nearly 300 percent. At Shenzhen’s Yantian Port, daily inbound containers jumped from about 120 to over 200, a rise of more than 60 percent by late May.
Building Trust for Next Steps
China’s international trade representative Li Chenggang hopes the London talks will strengthen trust and fuel steady growth in economic and trade ties. Sun Taiyi, associate professor of political science at Christopher Newport University, noted that both sides clarified their positions and recognized that collaboration yields better outcomes than a prolonged tariff war.
With these results, China and the United States appear set on a path toward more predictable and constructive engagement, demonstrating that dialogue and data-driven diplomacy can reset one of the world’s most important economic relationships.
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China, U.S. reach principled consensus after trade talks in London
cgtn.com
